Queen’s Birthday Honours: Patrick Smith, a legend honoured for relentless campaigns

Patrick Smith was the light on the hill for many of us in journalism.

Revered sport writer Patrick Smith at Sorrento, Victoria. ‘I still think we hit the horses too often. We shouldn’t hit them at all.’ Picture: Daniel Pockett

Patrick Smith was the light on the hill for many of us in journalism. A man of towering reputation, one whose thundering contempt held administrators, codes and participants to account, a relentless campaigner on issues that mattered and a beautiful writer who could throw the lever to vaudeville with equal effect.

The three-time Walkley Award-winner has been roused from retirement by news he has been awarded a medal (OAM) in the general division of the Order of Australia for his services to print media.

The award’s citation mentions Smith’s advocacy for restricting the use of whips in racing and for the introduction of a racial vilification code in AFL football as chief among the 69-year-old’s achievements. Smith started in journalism in 1972, worked at The Age from 1976 to 2000 and anchored The Australian’s sports section from 2000 to 2019.

A former fast bowler for Prahran in Melbourne grade cricket, he charged in off the long run five days a week. Sometimes six.

When he lined up a subject he knew no fatigue. Two years after Collingwood fans racially abused Nicky Winmar in the infamous 1993 football match at Victoria Park, Essendon’s Michael Long (who, as it happens, has also been awarded an OAM today for services to the AFL and the Indigenous community) complained about abuse from Collingwood’s Damian Monkhorst.

The AFL’s handling of the situation was insensitive and inadequate.

Smith says when he looks back on his career it was his campaigning that eventually led to an anti-racism code being introduced that gives him the most satisfaction.

“I wrote a piece saying there should be a code of conduct in football and I battered them day after day with columns and they eventually relented, but grudgingly,” he said.

“It was around the time of that memorable presser with then AFL chairman Ross Oakley – he had Michael Long on his left and Damian Monkhorst on his right, neither player was allowed to speak and it was a ham-fisted attempt to broker through what was happening in footy at the time, and that was racism.

“I can remember Longy making little hand signals because he wasn’t allowed to talk, which just summed up the superficiality and tokenism of the AFL’s actions. “It drove me to write columns and other people jumped in. We officially bashed the AFL around the head to get there. They won’t acknowledge that, they’ll say they did it, but they were belted into doing it.”

Smith, who is a part-owner of several race horses, also campaigned passionately to stop the horses being whipped and is still upset despite the industry placing some limits on the animal abuse.

“I still think we hit the horses too often. We shouldn’t hit them at all and I’ve never heard one good reason why we are allowed to hit them while they are running as hard as they can,” he said.

“They say the horses are protected but if you wanted them protected you wouldn’t let them get hit at all. We only allow the horses to be hit to satisfy punters.”

Ten’s Angela Bishop. Picture: Tim Hunter.

Other prominent media figures to be awarded OAMs in this year’s Queen’s Birthday honours list include Seven’s Sunrise co-host and sports reporter Mark Beretta, for his service to the community through a range of charitable organisations, Ten’s Angela Bishop, for services to entertainment journalism, and former Fairfax foreign corres­pondent Lindsay Murdoch for service to journalism.

Former editor of The Courier-Mail and The Sunday Mail, Greg Chamberlin, has been recognised as a member (AM) in the general division of the Order of Australia for significant service to the print media through editorial roles.

Simon Bouda, a senior reporter at Nine, has also been made awarded an AM in the general division of the Order of Australia for significant service to the television and print media, and to the community.